Legendary rock band announce first UK tour in eight years – and reveal bassist’s replacement after his retirement
THEY’VE been shaking venues to their foundations for five decades and have lost none of their rock riffing power.
AC/DC will once again put on a high voltage display when they return to the UK this summer for the first time in eight years.
The Anglo-Aussie stalwarts have announced a bumper run of European shows including two July dates at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The Power Up Tour to support the album of the same name is celebrating 50 years in the business and will feature lead guitarist Angus Young, frontman Brian Johnson, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and ex Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney who is filling in for the retired Cliff Williams.
Chaney, 53, certainly has the chops and then some for the role having been a member of Alanis Morrisette’s touring band and a session musician for the likes of Cher, Celine Dion, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani and Slash.
The band were firing on all cylinders when Johnson returned to the fold last year having overcome hearing issues.
They mesmerised US rock fans at the Power Trip festival in California, headlining alongside some of the biggest names in the genre including Tool, Metallica and Iron Maiden.
It was Johnson’s first live headline show with the group in seven years and it didn’t take long for the old magic to return as the band rocked out the likes of Back In Black, You Shook Me All Night Long and Thunderstruck.
It was a sight many feared would never happen after the singer’s worrying health battle.
Guns ‘n’ Roses frontman Axl Rose famously filled in for Johnson on a 2016 tour while the Geordie singer was sidelined.
The band’s co-founder Young previously told us: “We’ve had our fair share of tragedies. Back in 1980, we lost our lead singer Bon Scott and that was a very dark patch for us. But it was my brother (Malcolm) who contacted me at the time and said that instead of moping about, we should just keep on doing what we had been doing before.
“In 2016 it looked very difficult again. We were at another unknown juncture because with Brian’s hearing problems we didn’t know what would happen.
“There was a real risk of him going deaf if we carried on, and none of us wanted that.
“So we had to cancel the rest of the tour with no idea what would happen next, but we were lucky enough that Axl Rose stepped in to help us out. It wasn’t planned like that — he got in touch and we’ll be forever thankful and grateful he did it.”
“But Axl came with a reputation for hard partying and unruly behaviour, and teetotal Angus added: “I’d heard a lot of things too. But I talked to him one-on-one and he was very respectful to me and the others.
“He would listen. We said, ‘OK, we’ve got to get some rehearsals to get this happening’, and he fully committed and went about it very professionally.”
“I don’t know if I can say we tamed him, but I can only say that when we were on the road he was there with us.
“He was very respectful. If we were there to do the show, he was there, and he was there at the same time as us, ready to go.”
It looks like there’ll be no need for a vocal substitution this time around.